The Delhi police on Wednesday arrested a 40-year-old businessman for allegedly raping a minor domestic help for three years at his home in Karol Bagh. The SDM office received a tip-off about the alleged harassment of the 17-year-old domestic help at the hands of her employer.
Joint operation
A joint operation, led by the SDM, was launched and the girl was rescued from the Karol Bagh house. The accused, Kapil Bhatia, who owns an automobile spare parts shop at Kashmere Gate, was taken into custody. The victim, a resident of Jharkhand’s Gumla district, told the police that her employer had confined her in the house for the last three years. During this period, he raped her and committed unnatural acts on her. When she complained to his wife, she allegedly beat her up.
“The accused never allowed her to speak to any outsider, not even to her parents in Gumla over the phone,” said a police officer, adding that he did not even pay her any salary.
She was brought to the businessman's house by a middleman, said the police. “The victim has alleged that she was also raped at the accused’s office in Kashmere Gate where he took her on the pretext of work,” said the police officer.
The businessman has been arrested under Sections 376 (rape), 354 (molestation), 377 (unnatural act) of IPC, POCSO Act and JJ Act. He was produced before a magistrate at Tis Hazari courts and sent to jail, said Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (Central). The victim’s statement before the magistrate under CrPC Section 164 is yet to be recorded.
